Participating / Indonesia
Indonesian activists seize the constitution to defend their rights

The International Day of Peasants’ Struggle, held on the 17th April, was an opportunity for the activists of the Indonesian Peasants Union to unite with other social movements as a part of the “People’s Assembly : the constitutional path towards a response to crisis”, which brought together 150 people. After the initiative of the People’s Movement against Neo-colonialism and Imperialism collective, Gerak Lawan, which itself includes approximately 15 organisations, this assembly examined the constitutional status of political initiatives launched by the government. It marked a continuation of the struggle against the new law on investments, voted on in March 2007. Read this article

Demonstrating/ Philippines
The peasants of Sumilao win the battle against Southeast Asia’s largest agribusiness

On 31st March the peasants of the village of Sumilao, on the Filipino island of Mindanao, celebrated the end of a long journey. After thirteen years of struggle, they had triumphed in the legal conflict between their peasant co-operative, Mapalad [1], and the multinational San Miguel Corporation, Southeast Asia’s largest agribusiness. The Corporation had intended to begin intensively farming 50,000 pigs, on 144 hectares of land that agrarian reforms had granted the peasants in 1995. One peasant declares eloquently, ‘Is it fair that they illegally convert our land ? Is it normal to put social justice to one side in exchange for promises of economic prosperity and financial benefit ? Read this article

Training/India
A meeting with nature: discover the forest, protect the mangroves

Putting feet in the forest to know it better ! On the 20th and 21st of this March, 30 youth from southwestern India spent two days in the great outdoors. They were participating in a Nature Study Camp organized by the Ekta Parishad association . As a key component of its struggle against inequalities, Ekta Prishad has, since 2004, organized activities to raise awareness of environmental protection and preservation among young people. Set in the surroundings of the Ekta Youth Resource Centers of Alapad and Arathuppuzha - small coastal villages in the State of Kerala greatly affected by the December 2004 tsunami – the Nature Study Camps organized by Ekta Parishad Kerala attract many young people from lower castes. Read this article

Cooperating - India
“The Herb Hospital”: plants for solidarity!

The colour is in the name: Sabuja Biplav, or the ‘Green Revolution’, is a hospital where traditional remedies are prepared from locally available plants. Nicknamed the ‘Herb Hospital’, Sabuja Biplav [1] is situated in Jharbandhui, 30 kms from Bolangir, in the Northern Indian state of Orissa. In 2004 Dr Das launched this startlingly innovative social solidarity project starting from the proposition that, on average, a household spends 10% of its income on expensive, ‘modern’ medicinal treatments. Read this article

Informing/ Pakistan
Pakistani fisherman mobilise against attacks on their fundamental rights

300 people participated in a seminar on fishermen’s rights and the role of democratic government, organised in Karachi on the 24th of April, 2008, by the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF ). Journalists, representatives of civil society organizations, teachers, students and people from all different social groups (including a large proportion of women and children), all joined with human rights activists to condemn violence and injustices committed by the government against fishermen. Read this article

Witness/ Burma
Rappers stand up to the military junta

Open war rages between Burmese artists and the government, and members of the group Acid, in the frontline, have suffered the consequences. In 2000, the young Burmans Yan Yan Chan, Anagga and Zar Yar Thaw formed the hip-hop group , which quickly became extremely well-known, which called out to an expectant Burmese youth who yearned for freedom. Read this article